Overnight Rain Lashes Thane and Mulund West Triggering Orange Alert
An intense, cloudburst-like spell of heavy rainfall lashed Thane and Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, including Mulund West, just after midnight on Monday, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an orange alert. The sudden overnight deluge caused temporary waterlogging in low-lying areas, but local civic agencies cleared the affected stretches before the morning rush hour.
The weather bureau issued the orange alert at 1:05 am on Monday as the intense three-hour spell of rain began pounding the region. The heaviest downpour was concentrated over the eastern suburbs and neighbouring areas. Thane recorded 117 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending Monday morning, while Navi Mumbai averaged 118 mm during the same period.
According to automatic weather station data, Mulund West bore the brunt of the downpour, receiving over 200 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Monday. Almost the entire deluge fell within a few hours between midnight and early morning, overwhelming several low-lying pockets. Within Mulund, Veena Nagar recorded 210 mm of rain, while Gawanpada logged 167 mm.
The rain-soaked night showed stark variations in rainfall across the metropolitan region. While areas like Versova recorded 167 mm, Goregaon saw 129 mm, Sion received 124 mm, and Marol logged 122 mm, other parts of the city experienced much lighter showers. The IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 104 mm of rain in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 am, whereas the Colaba observatory in south Mumbai logged just 30.4 mm. Similarly, Byculla and Malabar Hill received less than 50 mm of rainfall, recording 43 mm and 45 mm respectively, while Matunga recorded 61 mm.
The overnight downpour led to immediate waterlogging in some low-lying areas, which temporarily shut down the Andheri East-West subway to traffic. However, civic agencies deployed personnel to clear the waterlogged stretches. By the start of the morning rush hour, the water had been cleared, allowing road, school, and office traffic to resume normal operations.
